Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

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Mothman
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Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by Mothman »

http://blog.startribune.com/sports/acce ... learn-from
No, the 2014 season didn’t go quite like Kalil had planned. He had surgery on his left knee in May and wasn’t able to practice with the team during spring organized team activities and the June minicamp. That preceded a poor first half of the season for Kalil, who feels that being under so much scrutiny will aid his development down the road.

“I’ve never really had any kind of injuries my whole career and I think you kind of take that for granted, playing healthy,” Kalil said last week as Vikings players cleaned out their lockers. “So as far as being mentally tough and the adversity I had to face this year, I think it made me a lot stronger mentally. It’s something that you learn from. … Players have bad years. It’s not the end of the world for me. What I see is an opportunity to go into the offseason and correct what I can correct and have a great year next year.”

Kalil said he thought he could play with the knee injury, but because he knee “was swelling up a lot,” he opted to have surgery during the spring, which sidelined him until training camp. He said the lack of technical refinement affected his play once the season rolled around.
It really irks me to see sports journalists using Pro Football Focus as extensively as Matt Vensel does in the short article at the link above, and as much as they do in general. It gives those amateurs a voice that's far too powerful.

Anyway, Kalil clearly had a disappointing season but I thought he played much better down the stretch and I see no reason to give up on a player with his talent after 3 seasons, one of which was excellent. If this was the first time he has really had to deal with a significant injury in his career, I don't find it difficult to believe there was a learning curve involved or that it had a pretty big impact on his game. Hopefully, he'll have a much better season in 2015.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

Mothman wrote:http://blog.startribune.com/sports/acce ... learn-from
It really irks me to see sports journalists using Pro Football Focus as extensively as Matt Vensel does in the short article at the link above, and as much as they do in general. It gives those amateurs a voice that's far too powerful.

Anyway, Kalil clearly had a disappointing season but I thought he played much better down the stretch and I see no reason to give up on a player with his talent after 3 seasons, one of which was excellent. If this was the first time he has really had to deal with a significant injury in his career, I don't find it difficult to believe there was a learning curve involved or that it had a pretty big impact on his game. Hopefully, he'll have a much better season in 2015.
Totally agree, Jim. I'm so sick of PFF being used as a so-called reputable source. If there's anywhere on a football field where true understanding of assignments is critical to making an assessment, it's along the offensive line.

Matt Kalil himself has admitted he didn't have a great season. That's enough for me.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by mansquatch »

I agree as well. I thought Kalil handled this year about as well as you could expect, plus he got better as the season wore on. I think we can safely expect good things from him next year. It will be ridiculous to hear people claim we need help at tackle this offseason.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by Purple bruise »

mansquatch wrote:I agree as well. I thought Kalil handled this year about as well as you could expect, plus he got better as the season wore on. I think we can safely expect good things from him next year. It will be ridiculous to hear people claim we need help at tackle this offseason.
Totally agree. Kalil will be "back" this year, watch and see.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by dead_poet »

Purple bruise wrote:Totally agree. Kalil will be "back" this year, watch and see.
That's what I expected this year. Waiting for him to be "back" is getting tiring.
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Mothman
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

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dead_poet wrote: That's what I expected this year. Waiting for him to be "back" is getting tiring.
I feel the same way about the Vikes as a whole. Get "back" already!
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by losperros »

J. Kapp 11 wrote: Totally agree, Jim. I'm so sick of PFF being used as a so-called reputable source. If there's anywhere on a football field where true understanding of assignments is critical to making an assessment, it's along the offensive line.

Matt Kalil himself has admitted he didn't have a great season. That's enough for me.
I don't let PFF upset me anymore about anything. It's too difficult to take them seriously. They're the comics section of the paper, in my view.

Anyway, Kalil is one guy that really does need to return to form. The Vikings must get that from him. I thought he played very well during his rookie season. Regardless the reason for his regression, he is too talented to give up on this early in his career. And I do feel it's still early. I'm hoping Kalil succeeds in getting better for the team's sake and his own.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by PurpleKoolaid »

Kalil played well enough, at the end of the season, I don't think his position is going to be a real problem next season. Which is nice because we wont have to take a tackle in the first round, with phil holding his own. I don't think kalil will ever be as good as his rookie year, but if he plays like he has been lately, and gets a little first in his eyes, he may be an above average tackle.
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Re: Kalil on 2014: 'It's something that you learn from'

Post by jackal »

He is still young and there is no reason at this point to rule out pro bowl years from the guy.

He just needs to use the critics as fuel and dedicate every ounce of his ability to his craft.

I hope he comes back and is the an all pro LT for six years running, for us.
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